• Ukraine's president says meeting with Trump 'productive, substantive,' adds they discussed work of respective teams

ISTANBUL

US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described their meeting Thursday in Davos, Switzerland, positively, signaling potential momentum toward ending the nearly four-year war between Ukraine and Russia.

The hour-long session on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum comes as the US administration intensifies diplomatic efforts on both sides of the front lines.

“I had a very good meeting with President Zelenskyy. Everybody wants to have the war end,” Trump said following the talk.

Trump confirmed that a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner is scheduled, but the timing remains fluid.

Zelenskyy described the meeting as "good," as well as "productive and substantive."

"We discussed the work of our teams, and practically every day there are meetings or communication. The documents are now even better prepared. We also spoke today about air defense for Ukraine.

"Our previous meeting with President Trump helped strengthen the protection of our skies, and I hope that this time we will reinforce it further as well. I thanked him for the previous package of air defense missiles and asked for an additional one," he said on US social media company X.

Putin indicated earlier Thursday he would receive envoys in Moscow on Thursday, while Trump said the meeting would take place Friday.

"We have peace in the Middle East … and I believe another one's coming pretty soon," Trump said earlier, pointing to the Russia-Ukraine war.

Witkoff reinforced the optimism, suggesting that negotiators are currently focused on resolving just one final issue.